After eight years of exemplary leadership by Dr. Susan Forwell, we are pleased to announce that Dr. Ben Mortenson is our next Department Head, having assumed the role on October 1, 2023.
With thanks to Dr. Susan Forwell for her excellent leadership
Dr. Forwell has served as Department Head of the Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy since 2016. She was at the helm of the Department throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, steering the shifting teaching and administrative needs through the unknown, and reestablishing an orderly sense of normalcy once classes were able to resume in person.
Dr. Forwell also capably steered the Department through our national accreditation in 2019, achieving a perfect score and OSOT being granted exemplary standing, the only program achieving this milestone in Canada.
She has been at the forefront of the Department’s expansion, leading our growth with a distributed teaching program and brand new cohorts based in Prince George and in Surrey. As part of this, she has deftly led the significant increases in the number of faculty (from 12 in 2016 to 22 in 2023), staff (from 7 in 2016 to 11 in 2023), students (from 48 in 2016 to 88 in 2023) and clinical faculty and partners (from 150 to over 500 in 2023), establishing new teaching teams and promoting the Department within UBC, locally and across the province.
During her term, Dr. Forwell also led the development of the Department’s first international conference, the inaugural World Occupational Science Conference, which took place in August 2022. This conference brought together occupational scientists from across the globe, with 250 presentations, posters, and dialogic sessions over three days.
“I am delighted that Dr. Mortenson will be our next Department Head. His leadership, award-winning research and passion for teaching will enrich the direction of our endeavours, and will no doubt grow the depth and breadth of our reach and achievements – as a team, department and a community.”
— Dr. Susan Forwell, Department Head (2016–2023)
Dr. Ben Mortenson’s background and vision
Dr. Mortenson will be familiar to many of you. He joined the Department 20 years ago as a clinical instructor and has since risen through the ranks to achieve the rank of full Professor.
With his BscOT from the University of Alberta, Dr. Mortenson’s completed his MSc and PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at UBC, with his thesis centred on the impact of wheelchairs on individuals in residential care under the supervision of Dr. Bill Miller.
His current research reflects his expertise in wheelchair mobility, power mobility and the impact of assistive technology. He describes the overall aim of his research “to enable adults with disabilities and their informal caregivers to lead more fulfilling lives by increasing or maintaining their capacity to participate in life roles, through the use of assistive technology”, centered on four populations: assistive technology users, informal and formal caregivers, individuals with spinal cord injury, and residents in long-term care.
Dr. Mortenson is the principal investigator at the International Collaboration of Repair Discovery (icord) and Rehabilitation Research Program, and is an affiliated investigator at the Vancouver Coast Health Research Institute.
Dr. Mortenson has received numerable research grants, awards and recognition in occupational therapy and rehabilitation sciences more broadly. In March 2022, Dr. Mortenson was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, which recognizes and honours “outstanding contributions and service made by an occupational therapist over an extended period of time.”
With regard to teaching and learning, Dr. Mortenson adopts a student-centered learning approach, with the belief that every student and learner is unique, bringing different life experiences, strengths and learning styles with them to be active partners in the learning process. He has taught across our Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) program, and has provided research supervision to over 100 MOT, Masters and PhD graduate students and is currently supervising over 20 this year alone.
“I am honoured to be the next Department Head and lead our growing department into the next phase of our expansion. I look forward to leading our collective innovation as educators and researchers, and hope we can continue to work together towards a vision of participation for all.”
— Dr. Ben Mortenson
Images: UBC OSOT